


Blurred Memory

by Riddleisourking



Series: Voltron Ficlets [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Arthritis, Dementia, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 05:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15478287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddleisourking/pseuds/Riddleisourking
Summary: He picks up the note with Lance's flourished writing on it and smiled. Even with arthritis afflicting both of his hands and joints, the Cuban insisted on making sure his penmanship was legible. That was more than he could say for his chicken scratch, but he didn't even have arthritis to excuse for it.No, he had something else entirely and that was why there were sticky notes plastered over a great deal of the house.





	Blurred Memory

After defeating Zarkon, saving Earth and the universe from countless attacks, it all led them up to this moment. To where he was sitting in his kitchen, a cup of hot coffee warming his gnarled hands and a note set to the side.

Lance was out getting more groceries with one of their grandchildren. By now, the youngest of them was already pushing twenty. It was enough to make even him feel old. Especially because they had great grandchildren now that were in their toddler years. That had been a tough pill to swallow for even Lance, who looks like he hasn't aged a day past thirty.

He picks up the note with Lance's flourished writing on it and smiled. Even with arthritis afflicting both of his hands and joints, the Cuban insisted on making sure his penmanship was legible. That was more than he could say for his chicken scratch, but he didn't even have arthritis to excuse for it.

No, he had something else entirely and that was why there were sticky notes plastered over a great deal of the house. They were reminders for him.

He rereads the note and flicks his eyes to clock on the wall.

7:58pm.

Lance should be home soon with… He grits his teeth and his grip on the table tightens. Who had he gone to the store with? Shiro? Pidge? 

He opens his eyes again and they land on a sticky note to his right.

‘Gone shopping with Rose, be back at 8:10. Don't try cooking!’

He blinks. 

Right.  Rose.

He pauses and grimaces. His memory was declining quickly and they had nothing to do but to wait until it consumed him entirely.

Lance doesn't want him to worry about it, he just wants him to enjoy the time that he has left with the cargo pilot. But he can't seem to enjoy himself, not when he can't even remember their wedding night. It's a story that Lance tells him often, but not one that he can remember even now. 

“Keith!” A voice called, the rustling of groceries following as a pair of shaky hands set bags onto the counter. “Keith, sweetheart, Rosie has something she wants to tell us!”

Keith grunts as he slowly pushes himself up from the table. He had a near constant ache in his back from his old age and he shuffles- yes, shuffles- to Lance.

Lance, far from the young and spry cargo pilot he had been in his youth, now had a decoration of age marks and greys in his hair. It didn't detract from his beauty at all; no, he was still as handsome as he was years ago after the defeat of… of…

He grimaces and lets the thought go as he stops by his husband, “She does?”

“Mhm. She’s really excited about it, but wouldn't tell me in the car.” Lance smiles, his face wrinkling more than would a younger man; he helped Keith sit on the couch, his blue eyes still radiant and loving.

“She gets that from you.” He says, but he's not sure about that. Memory’s a bitch like that.

Their granddaughter (?) walks in quickly and Keith has to hide his jealousy. Youth really was wasted on the young, he would kill to be that young again.

“So, as you two know, Alvin and I have been trying to have a baby for over two years.” She begins, her face dimpling. Now that, he knew that she got that from Lance's side of the family. “Well, we finally got our doctor's approval to try fertility shots and now I'm pregnant!”

It takes a moment for it to sink in and then he's turning to Lance, a smirk on his face, “You're a great grandpa.” He accused.

“Keith, sweetie, this is Rosie’s first, but you know that Jean’s son has three girls of his own.” Lance teased, kissing his cheek. “That's great that you two are finally pregnant! I remember when we found out that we were expecting our first.” 

“Really? What happened?” Rose asks before Keith even gets the chance to. All the same, he faces Lance curiously.

“Well, Keith cried when we found out. He was so happy.” Lance smiles at Keith, taking his hand. “It was a week before our wedding, just after we defeated Zarkon and saved the universe. We decided to tell the news to our closest friends at the wedding reception.”

“Wow, so did you two ever, you know, in one of the lions?” She asks, her blue eyes dancing.

“What lions?” Keith blurted.

“The lions. That made Voltron. You flew red and I had blue, and then when Shiro disappeared, you took black and I had red.” Lance explains, he always explains, “Red was where we had our first time. And our second. And I think our third, too.”

Keith could only make a face at that as Rose snorted and laughed at them both.

“Were they real? What did they look like?” He ventures carefully, even Rose has grown solemn now that he was asking so many questions. “What happened to them?”

Lance got up, leaving and returning with a photo album before showing Keith an old photo of all of the paladins, in uniform, with the lions.

“These were the lions. That's you, and me, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Princess Allura, and Coran.” He groaned, his fingers bending in different directions. It looked painful.

“Lance.” He starts.

Rose stands up, “Do you need your heating pad, abuelo?” She asks, worry filling her face.

“If you could, please.” Lance moves closer to Keith as Rose leaves them, touching his hand, “Sweetheart, you know about my rheumatoid arthritis, right?” He asks.

He glances around, there are no sticky notes to clue him in on what Lance was talking about.

He shakes his head, “No, what is it?”

“My hands, the joints in them, ache and try to bend in ways they aren't supposed to. I'll write you a sticky note about it, I haven't been able to write it yet.” He kisses him, wincing painfully at his hand soon after.

Keith hesitated, “Does it hurt?” He asks stupidly. Of course it hurt, otherwise the other wouldn't be acting in this way.

Rose rushes in, interrupting them as she set up Lance's heating pad. A crude drawing of a red lion was spread across the cloth and he tries to remember who drew it. 

“Here, abuelo, do you need anything else?” She asks anxiously.

“If you could, can you put the groceries away for us? I think I'm gonna take Keith upstairs and we can nap.” He admits, his eyes were burning into his own in question. “Would you like to nap?” 

He nods, pushing himself off of the couch with more than a little trouble. Rose, thankfully, helped balance him and then she was helping Lance up next.

“Thanks, Rose. Make sure you give, uh…” He blinks. 

What was their son’s name again? Demetrius? Andy?

“Dante.” Lance whispers into his ear softly. 

“- Dante a hug from the both of us. Congratulations on the parrot again.” He smiled, he was getting tired and he turned to Lance to express this. “Let's go to bed.”

Lance nods, moving and hugging Rose before helping Keith up the stairs and to their bedroom. Then, into the large and soft bed.

“Lance?” He starts, eyes slowly accustom to the dark. “What if I forget about you?’

This had to be at least the twelfth time that he's asked Lance this, but he needs to hear the answer again all the same.

“Well…” Lance lets out a breath, “I'll…” He pauses. “You've never asked this, this is hard.” He moves, holding Keith close.

“I'd have to leave so many notes and photos of me so you know who I am.” He finally answers, kissing his head.

It's a good answer, or well, it's good enough for him. Besides, they still have many years to go through before the dementia progresses to that point. Hopefully. 


End file.
